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What Is a Weight and Height Percentile?

B. Miller
B. Miller

A weight and height percentile is a method of comparing children and young adults up to 20 years of age to others in their age group. This is done for the purpose of tracking growth rates and helping to indicate overall health. It also allows doctors to notice patterns in the child's growth; for instance, if he or she was growing normally for a time and then suddenly stops. There are two different weight and height percentile charts used to track this data. The first is for infants up to three years old, and a second chart for children two to twenty years old. The overlap helps to ensure the data is complete.

The information collected for weight and height percentile charts is relatively straightforward. In addition to the expected weight and height measurements at each doctor's visit, the doctor will also measure head circumference in kids up to three years old. Body mass index, or BMI, is included as well in the measurements, though this is simply calculated using the height and weight. The doctor then takes this information, and looks on the weight and height percentile chart to determine where the child falls compared to other children his or her age for each measurement.

A weight and height percentile is used for tracking growth.
A weight and height percentile is used for tracking growth.

A child in the fiftieth percentile, for example, can be considered exactly average compared to other children. A child in the seventieth percentile for height, for example, is taller than 70 percent of other kids his or her age. This type of information can be extrapolated for each measurement to see where the child falls in relation to others. There are different weight and height percentile charts used for male and female children, since their expected growth rates can be quite different, particularly in adolescence.

A child's weight and height percentile should be tracked regularly in order to gauge her physical progress.
A child's weight and height percentile should be tracked regularly in order to gauge her physical progress.

Based on this information, and the demonstrated growth rates tracked over time, a doctor will be able to make recommendations for the child's care and his or her regular diet and amount of exercise. If sudden changes in growth occur, the doctor will be able to track this information, and be better able to determine why it is happening. This information ceases at age 20 because by this time, most people have stopped growing. Though there are height and weight comparison charts for adults, which provide average information based on body type, and can provide general guidelines for fitness goals; there is no percentile information available for people above the age of 20, however.

Discussion Comments

Animandel

Is there a house where kids grew up that doesn't have the scratches or pencil marks on the wall. Before kids go through their big growth spurts they are consumed with their height. My boys can't wait to see how much they have grown from month to month--the more the better. Being a girl, I was always worried that I was going to grow too much and be taller than all the boys in my class.

Drentel

I know the article says that there is no weight and height percentile measurement system for adults, but I think there should be. Anyone who has reached a certain age knows that you start to shrink and spread after a certain age. I think it would be good to do more studying on how people age and how their bodies change.

Maybe if we had a weight and height percentile, older adults would benefit, and maybe doctors could help them live more productive lives when they get old. It couldn't hurt anyway.

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    • A weight and height percentile is used for tracking growth.
      By: Ambrophoto
      A weight and height percentile is used for tracking growth.
    • A child's weight and height percentile should be tracked regularly in order to gauge her physical progress.
      By: Tatyana Gladskih
      A child's weight and height percentile should be tracked regularly in order to gauge her physical progress.
    • A doctor will measure head circumference in children up to three years old and make comparisons to the weight and height percentile chart to determine where the children fall in comparison to other children of the same age.
      By: jeffreyjcoleman
      A doctor will measure head circumference in children up to three years old and make comparisons to the weight and height percentile chart to determine where the children fall in comparison to other children of the same age.